Commercial Driver's License (CDL)

Reply to
Pete C.
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Reply to
Ignoramus19859

Had mine since 1984 does that count?

Possible to do as long as you study the book and pay attention.

Sure. Just grab the book and study.

Also, can I pass that test with a vehicle that does not require a CDL? NOPE. You MUST take the driving test on a vehicle that falls under the class you are getting. And make SURE that the vehicle you are testing on is legal for the class you are testing on. It has to be licensed and registered and have insurance as well as having all the DOT required equipment.

I will do some

Be prepared when you go to the DMV. CDLs are NOT cheap. Also you will have to have your DOT physical every two years(unless you have certain medical problems), NOT the same as your normal physical.

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Paperwork wise you will need to keep a log book if you are hauling for hire. Make sure the vehicle has all the proper DOT required items and that you pay VERY close attention to loading/tarping/securing the load.

Hope you don't drink or use any kind of drug. If you hold a CDL you can be required to take a drug test at any time, and the limits and fines/jail terms are different than non-cdl tags.

Reply to
Steve W.

Unless your getting paid to haul the stuff.

Depends on the school and the person in the class. I went in late 84 because of the vehicle access. There were two "students" in that class that shouldn't have even shown up. Both had NEVER drove ANY vehicle and decided that they wanted to be OTR drivers. Didn't have a clue what to do or how to do it. One actually drove a yard truck right through the shop wall because he forgot how the clutch worked!!!

I hold an A & M with haz-mat, wrecker, Doubles/triples, metal coil and tanker and had the passenger endorsement until last year (drove school buses for a while)

Reply to
Steve W.

What is so special about driving with metal coils?

Reply to
Ignoramus19859

This is where it gets "fun"

The laws say you have to keep an accurate log for the hours you are in operation as well as 7 days prior. So if you went to an auction to buy stuff last Saturday you would have logged that. Then you decide to take a load of stuff to another auction this Saturday. Well now you have to log the days in between as well because those now count. Also the way you log hours gets interesting. You basically have four hour types, Off Duty, Sleeper Berth (must be an actual sleeper) Driving and On Duty Not Driving. Driving is just what it says. You are actively the driver of the vehicle. On duty Not driving gets interesting because anything that is connected with the business but NOT driving counts. Loading the truck, getting fuel, even sitting at the auction house or at a shop waiting to buy/load items gets counted.

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Yep. That is why practicing with the vehicles gets to be important. Oh and FYI unless they have changed the driving test the basics are Pre trip inspection (tires, lights, safety gear, leaks,security of the load, HUT tag and such) Engine start, air pressure and gauges check, Driving forward and making turns as the brownie directs. Straight line backing, and parallel parking were in there as well. Nothing like backing a west coast tractor with a 53 foot box in a straight line then pulling up and dropping into the cones and having the brownie get out and use his foot to measure the distance from each set of duals to the curb!

Both passenger and Haz-mat require background checks, and fingerprints. If you do one you may as well do both. Gives you the option of buses and such if you want a part time job.

Reply to
Steve W.

The catch is that if they are used for a business they are CDL required. Basically if you get money to drive it and are hauling stuff that isn't yours you fall under the CDL law. Neighbor found that out the hard way using a Ford 1 ton and a trailer to haul water for hire!

Reply to
Steve W.

Yep.

Absolutely. Paying attention and having the mechanical aptitude to understand air brakes and the like is what you need.

Yep, at least around here there are multiple "rent our truck for your CDL test" places that will rent you a suitable truck with a 27' trailer, give you an hour of drive time to familiarize yourself with the truck with your learners permit, then you do your road test and call it done. Around here it runs ~$500 give or take depending on the distance to the DPS office you go to.

Yep, the DPS inspector checks the truck/reg/insurance, the truck rental place will have everything proper if the do this as a regular business. The DPS folks usually know the truck folks since they see them frequently.

Around $750 with the cost of truck rental, license fees, TSA fees (hazmat), and a couple books. Not cheap, but certainly not terribly expensive.

CVS's Minute Clinic does DOT physicals for about $60.

Yes, and that log has to cover something like 7 hours before you go on duty for commercial CMV driving, i.e. you need to log your personal time as well.

Absolutely, and this should apply to non CMVs as well. It doesn't matter if it's a semi or a compact pickup, loosing a load and causing an accident will not make your day.

Absolutely, and you can't get speeding tickets or the like deferred as you can with a non CDL license. It is also illegal to text while driving a CMV, even stopped at a traffic light. Texting is only allowed when you are stopped in a place where you can safely remain stopped indefinitely. Radar detectors are also illegal in CMVs.

Reply to
Pete C.

AM with TX here. Not interested in the passenger endorsement, I'm not a people person and driving a passenger van/bus is about the last thing I'd ever want to do.

Reply to
Pete C.

The ABS problems were mainly on the older rigs when the systems were first being tested out. They didn't have the ability to cope with the huge load differentials. The newer systems are pretty good. As far as the emissions PIA I would hunt for a rig from 2000-2007, most of those are pretty trouble free and don't have a lot of the extra crap. The new regs are causing a lot of problems for the fire service. Due to the way the engines get operated they have a hard time passing the regs. Many companies went out and bought stockpiles of pre reg engines and gliders or tagged frame rails to build on. So you can buy a brand new custom built rig in 2011 that gets registered as an 09!

Reply to
Steve W.

I knew it was 7-something :) Not real critical until I get a CMV myself, and even then since I won't be running a business I'll be exempt.

This varies a bit from state to state and office to office. Around here the pre-trip inspection is a written test only, and the DPS guy just does a quick walk around to check lights and whatnot. They also do minimal parallel parking, basically just move the rig closer to the curb and reasonably parallel. The truck rental places also supply a 27' trailer, not a 53' so that's a bit easier. I think they are reasonable in looking for you to have control of the vehicle, not be perfect and ready for the trucker's rodeo. You need to be safe on the road, but perfect comes with experience.

No! No passengers! Give me a nice big vacuum truck and let me clean sewers...

Reply to
Pete C.

Sure, How many would you like. There are TON's of them out there where a guy just HAD to be a driver and then found out what it's really like. Or ones that are off lease or brokered rigs that sleets are selling off. Whatever you look at have them pull ALL the maintenance records, run an oil sample from THAT rig and have a good mechanic check it over before buying. Some parts are not that bad to replace but there are more than a few that will eat your wallet and come back for seconds!!!

100K is child's play for most rigs today. Especially when you likely will not come close to capacity hauling.
Reply to
Steve W.

A bit trickier securing the load, and nasty things happening if one gets free. I believe they actually dropped that as a separate endorsement.

Reply to
Pete C.

Yeah, you really don't want to see what happens when a big roll of steel comes loose at 60 mph. NOT pretty.

T - Double/Triple Trailers Endorsement (Knowledge Test only) P - Passenger Endorsement (Knowledge and Skills Test) N - Tank Vehicle Endorsement (Knowledge Test only) H - Hazardous Materials Endorsement (Knowledge Test only) X - Combination of Tank Vehicle and Hazardous Materials Endorsement S - School Bus Endorsement (Knowledge and Skills Test)

are the current ones. BUT if you already had the coil tag they still carry it over Why????

Plus if you take the test on a vehicle without air brakes you get a restriction that you cannot drive a vehicle with them.

Reply to
Steve W.

How did you guess that I got out of that job after the first year????

ANYONE who thinks that the children of today are well mannered, pleasant people just needs to drive a school bus for about a month. If you make it that long without wanting to drive the entire bus off a cliff after realizing that "these kids will be ruling the world some day" you may want to talk to a shrink....

Reply to
Steve W.

I know when I did mine in NY the pre trip counted toward the points. I took mine in downtown Syracuse on a Monday just before lunch. LOT'S of "fun". Only thing I missed was I didn't call attention to the brownie wearing his seat belt. I simply said that it was his choice if he wanted the ticket.

Well either way you may have the same cargo .....

Reply to
Steve W.

Drivers don't like to have their letters taken away?

Yep. Air brakes are pretty straightforward really.

Reply to
Pete C.

I don't think the "adults" on a city bus are much better. Or tour busses .

Reply to
Pete C.

Sorta like Gunner's spare tire episode, ON STEROIDS, huh?

-- Fear not those who argue but those who dodge. -- Marie Ebner von Eschenbach

Reply to
Larry Jaques

What's the actual breakdown on those costs, Pete? Curious minds, etc.

Not bad.

-- Fear not those who argue but those who dodge. -- Marie Ebner von Eschenbach

Reply to
Larry Jaques

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